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Cherpse! Tara and Ben

Find out how Tara and Ben's blind date went...

Tara Shutes, New College, Biomed, 1st year

We met by the Ashmolean (very creepy at night) and went to the pub – we quickly established that we had lots of mutual friends to the point that we’d been in the same room multiple times before but never met. We then realised we had been to the same nursery and reminisced about simpler times before trying to figure out what on our profiles meant we were matched by the cupids, quickly realising it was a mutual love of football. Unfortunately he’s an Arsenal supporter so none of his opinions were valid. (Although as a Man U fan it was gratifying to talk to someone whose team was still doing worse than mine!) 

First impressions?
Felt like I recognised him from somewhere – turns out I did!

Did it meet up to your expectations?
Given that I had no idea what to expect, I’m going to say yes.

What was the highlight?
Definitely discussing that time we watched butterflies in the nursery garden when we were four.

What was the most embarrassing moment?
I spilled my G&T all over my arm at the start but I’m not sure if he noticed.

Describe the date in three words:
Very small world.

Is a second date on the cards?
I saw him later in the Bridge smoking area, so depends how you define a date I guess?

Ben Hyman, Oriel, PPE, 1st year

We met on the steps of the Ashmolean at 7.30. We were unsure where to go but having worked that she had eaten and I hadn’t. We ended up in Chequers for a drink and some food having wandered down Cornmarket Street. We first tried to work out why we had been matched up although football was the only thing that we could work out was on both of our forms. Once the conversation got going we worked out that we had quite a lot of mutual friends as we both came from London. Having realised this we eventually worked out that we used to live only a few streets away and had gone to the same nursery school. We spent most of the time discussing mutual friends and catching up on their lives. It was very interesting and a pleasant evening but I don’t think either of us really felt a spark and we finished our drinks and went our separate ways.

First impressions?
She seemed quite nice and easy to talk to.

Did it meet up to your expectations?
I really had no idea what to expect going on. I was slightly worried the other person might be very strange or the date would be awkward so it definitely went better than that. Other than that though I didn’t have any strong expectations and was just curious what would happen.

What was the highlight?
Working out that we had been in the same nursery school class of 10 or 15 kids but didn’t remember each other.

What was the most embarrassing moment?
Working out that we had been in the same nursery school class of 10 or 15 kids but didn’t remember each other.

Describe the date in three words:
Interesting, reminiscing, pleasant.

Is a second date on the cards?
No.

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